"Mercedes," Sam said, surprised.

"Sam," Mercedes said, out of breath.


Mercedes could not believe it. She hadn't seen Sam since that day at her apartment, and then he looked awful, but today he looked amazing. He looked healthier and happier; he had his beard and long hair combo going, and he seemed to put on a bit more muscle since she had seen him. She still couldn't help the reaction that her lady parts had when she saw him.

"Um, I didn't know you bought this house. This elderly couple, the Swansons, sold it, and this is the first time I've seen the buyer." Mercedes finally spoke up.

He smiled at her, "Well, I am the buyer, and yeah, some remodeling and decorating I have to do, but overall, I am proud of the purchase. It is nice to see you, and congrats on all those Grammy wins from last night."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Um, you look good," Mercedes said as she stood awkwardly.

He chuckled, "Thank you, and I know I said it the last time I saw you, and I texted it until your number changed, but Mercedes, I really am sorry, and I hope we can work on fixing what was."

Mercedes sighed, "Sam, I don't know. I mean-"

"Look, I am not asking for our relationship back, but at least our friendship." Before she could answer, she heard small barks coming from the background, and she turned around to see a small pitbull puppy trotting over to them. The puppy stopped in front of Sam and looked Mercedes up and down before cocking her head to the side.

"This is Nala. I got her last week as a gift for completing my anger management classes," Sam explained as he bent down and picked up the puppy.

"Well, she is a cutie," Mercedes answered. "And, um, I will think about the friendship offer, ok."

"Ok, see ya later, neighbor," Sam smirked. Mercedes waved him off as Sam shut the door, and in an instant, Mercedes pulled out her phone and called Santana.

"You are interrupting my lady kisses with Quinn. What exactly do you want, Mercedes," Santana answered.

"Sam is my new neighbor across the street," Mercedes exclaimed.

"Ok, ride him and break in that new furniture," Santana spoke honestly.

"Santana, this is serious."

"I am being serious. He shouldn't have you this freaked out if you claim to be over him and don't want anything to do with him."

"What?"

"Merce, we all know you aren't entirely over Sam, and even though you went on a string of dates, you know that you compared them all to Sam, and because they aren't him, they never got a second date. So you can stop calling me and woman up and put on your big girl panties and confront this head-on. Or have another meaningless night with your vibrator. And while you choose that, I will be over here enjoying the hell out of these lady kisses." Santana spoke before hanging up the phone.

"Bitch," Mercedes grumbled to himself.


Sam was in the living room and was placing the decorations on the wall. He had decided to take some of his old hockey jerseys from when he was a kid and hang them on one wall, and in between each jersey, he decided to put pictures of his mom and sister. During therapy, he learned that hockey became a significant strain between him and his father. Sam felt like he wasn't worthy of being Dwight's son when he played badly, and Dwight didn't want Sam as a son when he played badly. So he had the conversation with his father, and it was more than clear that Dwight would not change, so Sam cut him out of his life. He stopped answering his calls, his emails, everything. His relationship with his father ceased to exist as he grew his relationship with his sister and mother. That was one thing that made life a lot better.

As he was hanging the photos up, there was a knock at the door, and he checked the time. It had been around three hours since he had company, and to say he was surprised to see his ex-girlfriend was a huge understatement. He knew Mercedes had changed her number and changed her address but he didn't exactly have the leverage a year ago to ask around for the information. So it was nice that she was just across the street, and hopefully, it gave them the potential to fix what was broken.

Nala was sleeping on the couch as he made his way to the front door, and he opened it to see Mercedes Jones once again.

"Hey, everything ok?" Sam asked.


Mercedes wanted to faint for the second time today. Sam had nothing but a grey tank top and a pair of grey sweatshirts on, and it did everything wonders. His muscles were popping out, and it was turning her on in the best way possible. The way his muscles contracted and the way he looked so sexy in something so simple.

"Mercedes, you ok?" He asked again.

She snapped out of her trance, "You asked me if we could work on being friends, and I have to know why. Why did you push me away that day?"

Sam looked down before inviting her inside. She stepped in, and it was insanely different from his last house. Instead of black, grey, and white, he had dabbled in greens and blues with random hints of orange.

"I pushed you away because I was drunk, and I couldn't fathom you actually wanting the best for me. Very few have wanted the best for me, and I was letting my anger dictate how I wanted it to be. That wasn't fair to you because you never did anything but show me kindness and show me how amazing I was on and off the court. Mercedes, I really am sorry." Sam spoke.

Mercedes looked at him and believed him, "I can't say we will end back where we were, but we can make it an effort. Sam, I am really proud of you and how far you have come since last year. Not many people can make a one-year turnaround.

"Thanks, um, do you want to say I ordered some Chinese takeout? You can help me, and we can catch up."

"I'd like that." Mercedes and Sam spent the time fixing up the living room and have conversed about how life changed for them. Sam spoke about his therapy, the journey to gaining back his brand deals, how he dealt with not being on the court and the opportunity of the new season. At the same time, Mercedes spoke about her new and upcoming tour and how this season felt like a winning season for her. When the food came, they ate and ended up watching a movie on the newly assembled couch. It was in the second Marvel movie that they both slept with Nala cradled in Sam's left arm while Mercedes cradled into his right. Sam had woke up before they all did and gently moved to grab the blanket. He draped it around Mercedes before going and cleaning up the mess, thanking all the Gods above for this second chance.